Abstract

Three new species of the giant pill-millipede genus Sphaerobelum Verhoeff, 1924, from Thailand and Laos, are described based on an integrative approach that combines morphological characters and COI data; these are S. nonghinensis Srikampha & Srisonchai, sp. nov., S. onyx Srikampha & Srisonchai, sp. nov., and S. petramurum Srikampha & Srisonchai, sp. nov. Additionally, new material of previously described species, S. aesculus Rosenmejer & Wesener, 2021, S. truncatum Wongthamwanich, 2012, and S. turcosa Srisonchai & Pimvichai, 2023, were collected and examined. The new species can be distinguished from all congeners by a combination of unique characters, including body colour, endotergum, vulva, and details of the telopods. The validity of these new species is further supported by high genetic distances from their congeners in the 658 base pairs of the COI barcoding fragment, ranging from 13.24–30.12%. Preliminary phylogenetic analyses using Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood indicate that each new species forms a distinct clade, supporting their morphological uniqueness, though the interrelationships with most other congeners remain unsupported. All new species are restricted to narrow distribution areas in Thailand and Laos, suggesting they are endemic to these regions. Morphological characters of the new species are illustrated, and an identification key and a distribution map for known Sphaerobelum species in Thailand are also provided.

Addeddate

2025-03-12 19:50:18

Bhl_virtual_titleid

165999

Bhl_virtual_volume

v.101:no.1 (2025)

Call number

10_3897_zse_101_143073

Call-number

10_3897_zse_101_143073

Foldoutcount

0

Genre

article

Identifier

millipedegenuss101srik

Identifier-ark

ark:/13960/s2jk7sgxh71

Identifier-bib

10_3897_zse_101_143073

Identifier-doi

10.3897/zse.101.143073

Issue

1

Ocr

tesseract 5.3.0-6-g76ae

Ocr_detected_lang

en

Ocr_detected_lang_conf

1.0000

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Latin

Ocr_detected_script_conf

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0.0.21

Ocr_parameters

-l eng

Page_number_confidence

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Page_number_module_version

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Page_range

273-300

Pages

28

Pdf_degraded

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0.0.25

Possible copyright status

In copyright. Digitized with the permission of the rights holder.

Ppi

300

Source

Zoosystematics and Evolution 101(1)

Year

2025

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